His Queen of Hearts
by Flight of Phoenix Wings
Summary: While the months since the events of Apocalypse have been quiet, peace never lasts for long. Things for mutants are on a downturn as two warring Cajuns bring trouble to the Xavier Institute's doorstep and Rogue's life may just be hanging in the middle...
1. UneXpected Events

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**Edit: Spelling and grammar mistakes have been corrected, minor parts have been embellished and some scenes extended.**

"His Queen of Hearts"

Chapter One - UneXpected Events

By Flight of Phoenix Wings

---xXx---

"_What is it with you and cards anyway?" Rogue asked him.  
"Well, it's like having fifty-two explosives tucked in one little pocket." Gambit explained, holding up a card. "I always save her for last."  
"The Queen of Hearts?" She asked him. Gambit kissed the card.  
"My lucky lady. She's gotten me out of a whole lot of jams."_

—_Episode 49, Cajun Spice_

---xXx---

For a Saturday in the middle of August it was exceptionally muggy and without a single breath of cool air. Any sane person wouldn't even be caught thinking about going out, but last week Rogue had already agreed to go shopping with Kitty; the weather was just another reason on the list of things to change her mind. Among others were the facts that the mall she wanted to go to was outside of Bayville and there was a slim chance of Lance meeting them there. Joy. At that point Rogue called in reinforcements; Wanda and she had formed an odd little friendship in the post-Apocalypse truce between teams and the Scarlet Witch certainly wouldn't balk at some of the stores Rogue liked to shop in.

"Kitty! Hurry up and get down here or Ah'm leavin' without ya!" she called up the stairs.

"No! I'm coming!" Kitty yelled as she ran down the stairs, adjusting her ponytail and accidentally phasing through Roberto. As she came next to Rogue, she spotted the keys in her gloved hand.

"Oh no! I can so totally drive Rogue! Let me have the keys!"

"Uh-uh! Ah want ta get ta tha mall in one piece!"

"_Please_ Rogue?"

"No!"

Rogue had won that argument before it even started, though Kitty's sulking lasted for the entire hour and a half drive up until they were halfway through the second store. She was vehemently trying to talk Rogue out of buying a pair of shoes that looked like a knee-high combat boot with a bit of a heel.

"They're like so…bulky! Why don't you try these on?" Kitty pleaded, holding out a pair of strappy high heels.

"Kit…those are _pink_. Ah don't do _pink_." Rogue said, seemingly revolted by the offensive color.

"No they aren't…they're like…fuchsia! That isn't pink!"

"Uh-huh, right;" Rogue glanced disbelievingly at her friend; "Ah like tha color of these just fine."

"But, but they're black!" Kitty protested.

"So? Ah like black."

"Rogue, your wardrobe needs a serious color boost, come on!"

"So Ah'll buy colored shoe laces," Rogue told her as she replaced the shoes in the box. Kitty growled in annoyance.

"Fine! No fuchsia…what about green? I know you like green at least!" Rogue just stared at Kitty, who sighed in surrender, "_Dark_ green?"

"Maybe."

"Alright, at least I'm getting _somewhere _with you…" Kitty said as she went to find the green counterparts to the pink monsters she was holding.

"I happen to like those boots."

Kitty and Rogue turned to see Wanda, with Lance a few steps behind.

"Hey Wanda. Ah'm glad you showed up."

"Anything to get away from Toad for a day," Wanda waved her off. "Are you actually getting those?" she gestured to the green shoes Shadowcat was now handing Rogue.

Looking the shoes over, which had a skinnier and higher heel and twice as many straps, she handed them right back.

"No. Kitty, they're alright but Ah'll never wear those anywhere."

"So? They're cute and a color other than black!"

"Ah'll break my neck."

"You know what? I'll get them for you anyway and someday you'll thank me!" Kitty boxed the shoes up.

"Hey pretty Kitty, what do you say we go grab lunch?" Lance asked her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. Kitty giggled and checked her watch.

"It's like, way after four, you haven't eaten?"

"No. Blob raided the fridge."

"Sure, why not;" She and Rogue went to pay for their purchases. "Are you two going to come with?" Kitty asked Rogue and Wanda.

"Ah was going to hit the book store…"

"Me too," Wanda added.

"Okay then, we'll spit up. I'll just give you a call when we're done, okay? You've got your phone on right?" Kitty asked Rogue.

"Just let me check—aw shoot! Ah left it at home!" She cursed as she checked her pocketbook and came up empty handed.

"I have mine," Wanda said.

"Uh…like okay, I'll just call you then?" Kitty managed to turn it into a question and Wanda nodded.

"Sounds alright."

"Um…okay, see you guys latter!" Kitty grabbed onto Lance's hand and fled, still just a little unnerved by Rogue's new friend.

"I don't even know where the book store is in this place." Wanda admitted.

"Ah think it's on tha second floor. Ah don't know why she wanted ta come all tha way out here…"

"Could it have something to do with what happened the last time the four of us were at Bayville Mall?" Wanda grinned, Rogue laughed.

The bookstore was a _tiny_, un-franchised thing, though it was full of books of the variety Wanda and Rogue could both enjoy. It was a popular enough place, packed with a Saturday crowd that almost made Rogue reconsider going in but she really wanted to get something new to read. You could only read a book so many times before you started to have it memorized.

Wanda quickly found a book she had been looking to buy and retreated to a reading area where she glared some poor kid with a comic book out of his chair. Rogue wasn't having the same sort of luck, so she left her shopping bags with Wanda and went back to the tightly placed shelves.

Now lacking the Scarlet Witch's crowd-repelling power, Rogue attempted to navigate the store, trying and failing to keep from being jostled by the other customers packed between the rows of shelves. She couldn't help but brush up against someone occasionally, there were so many people…too many people…they were too close…too close…walls…too close…

Rogue suddenly found she couldn't breathe. She closed her eyes and fumbled to get out of the store. Someone called her name, but she had to get out…get outside, she needed air…

Rogue didn't stop running until she hit the open space outside the mall; even then she only slowed to a fast walk, calming herself down as the wind whipped around her. She didn't understand why she'd flipped out like that. Sure, she was nervous around large groups of people, but freaking out like that wasn't in her character. A distant rumble of thunder growled overhead, seeming to agree.

Rogue continued her calming walk down the street, examining the windows of the small shops that had sprung up around the mall. These were already beginning to close up for the day as crowds of shoppers left for home and dinner. She'd walked a block or two away now and was about to head back into the mall when she realized she'd mistaken a turn and was going in the wrong direction. She wasn't too concerned though and idly watched the people around her, until something made her stop. There was a man with blond hair up ahead of her a way, watching her with an odd expression. Rogue couldn't place where she'd seen him before, yet something about him sent a warning chill down her spine. He came closer and spoke in a strong Cajun accent.

"Bonsoir, fille. It's Rogue, oui?" The man smiled a predator's grin and it clicked.

"Julien," Rogue whispered.

Time slowed down. Rogue was clearly aware of everything around her seemingly at once. The street emptying as the approaching dusk drove people away, how the dark settling around them was still not yet dark enough for streetlights; instead the evening's shroud of shadows began to cast its pall over the deserted road. The dark windows of lifeless businesses reflected the sunset, painting everything in blood-red hues. In the alleys the shadows, too solid, moved like ghosts that witnessed the meeting with hungry eyes. And the sounds too, seemed to be louder; somewhere, a dog barked at a trespasser, in the alley nearby broken glass tinkled, a block away the engine of a motorcycle raced…

"Ah! Y' remember me! I am flattered Rogue. I was _really_ hopin' I'd get t' see y' again." Something in his voice froze Rogue to the spot, transfixed like a bird in the eyes of a serpent. The motorcycle's drone revved in the background, almost covering the sounds of snickers in the dark.

"What are yah doin' here Julien?" Rogue asked, almost sure she didn't want him to answer. Though he grinned in response and began to step forward, his answer was cut off as a motorcycle's roar drowned out all other sounds. Julien broke his gaze as his eyes, furious and frustrated, settled behind her on the bike that passed so close to Rogue she could have reached out and touched the rider. They drove directly at Julien, who only barely got out of its way in time.

"Logan?" she asked herself, stunned. But no, she realized as they sharply swerved back around towards her; the color and shape of the bike was wrong and Logan's helmet didn't cover his face…

Whoever it was stopped in front of her, their back to her as they leapt off the bike and throwing away the helmet, they snarled in a voice that Rouge hadn't heard in more than a year.

"Too far Julien! Y' gone too far! I warned y' t' never so much as put a foot in New York! I told y' what would happen t' y' if y' did!"

"Remy LeBeau," Julien cursed as he spat, "y' don' have the stomach t' kill me."

"Oh, I don' know, 'm thinkin' 'bout proven' y' wrong," Gambit turned his head only slightly, still watching Julien. "Rogue? Y' alright?"

"What? Yah don't think Ah can handle blondie mahself? Ah'm fine Cajun." Rogue smirked but before Gambit could say a word Julien lunged as he yelled, "Not fo' long! Y' river rat is dead LeBeau!"

Gambit moved so fast Rogue never saw where the staff came from that he used to deflect the blade Julien pulled from thin air. The weapons met with an angry screech as sparks flew; they struggled briefly, nearly blurring as they parried the miss-matched weaponry, breaking apart only to come together again as they clashed. Gambit finally moved with a twist that Rogue almost missed entirely, his staff sending Julien's dagger flying through the air, swiftly followed by its owner landing in a crumpled heap.

Gambit immediately whirled around and grabbed Rogue by the arm as the shadows moved in on them.

"This way, Rogue! Run!" He told her needlessly—his grip ensured that she'd likely be dragged if she stopped.

"Where are we going?" Rogue protested as they maneuvered down an unimpressionable maze of alleys and streets.

"Just keep movin' an' I'll explain later!" He told her as he continued to lead the way.

Rogue thought he was never going to stop when he unexpectedly did, pulling her behind him in a recessed doorway down a back road. With the caution only a thief possessed, he looked out around the corner.

"Wh—" Rogue started, but Gambit whirled around, clamping his gloved hand over her mouth, his body pressed to hers in the small space.

"Shhhh! Der be more o' dem around somewhere. Y' must be _very_ quiet chère, d'accord?" He whispered softly, red eyes burning in the growing shadows. Rogue nodded. He removed his hand, eyes lingering on hers a second too long before he turned away.

"What's goin' on Gambit? What are tha Rippers doin' here? Rouge breathed in his ear, too close to him for her comfort. His answering laugh was soft, dark and without humor.

"Y' can't think o' any reason at all why _assassins _might come _looking_ fo' _y'_?"

Realization dawned on her face as she mouthed '_me_?', hoarsely whispering, "Why?"

"Later. I gotta get y' outta here; I can't be fightin' all o' them at once and be keepin' y' safe too."

"I can fight f' mahself just fine." Rogue hissed.

"Non! Not against dem! Dey're trained killers!" His eyes were back on hers, furious.

"So what now?" she asked. Gambit let out a frustrated sigh as he resumed his lookout.

"Can y' reach de X-Men?"

"Not unless ya got a phone."

"Non…But I'd bet dey do…" he replied, eyeing the door they stood in front of. The Cajun thief bent down as he studied the lock and worked on opening it. After a minute, he swore under his breath in French.

"Never de easy way, n'est-ce pas?" He grumbled, running a bare finger along where the lock met the doorframe, trailing a pink glow. He moved back and in front of Rogue as the energy caused a small explosion.

"What happened ta bein' quiet?" Rogue muttered. Gambit just waved her through the now open door.

"Find a phone." He told her as he barricaded the door. Rogue blinked, taking in the dark space.

"Did ya know ya were breakin' in ta a motorcycle shop?"

"Oui, I need a new one don't I?" Gambit grinned; "Find a phone chère."

There was one behind the service desk and she dialed the Institute's number. It picked up on the second ring.

"Xavier Institute."

"Bobby! Put Logan on tha phone! Bobby?"

There was a dead silence on the other end. Rogue tried again, but didn't even get a dial tone.

"Great."

"What's wrong?"

Rogue stifled a yell as she spun to face Gambit behind her; she hadn't even heard him. Wolverine would have her head.

"Tha phone died."

"Non…" He started to take the phone when the lights suddenly flashed on.

"Dey've found us!" Gambit grabbed one of the keys from a hook behind the desk and grabbed Rogue's arm.

"Ah'm gonna have a bruise from ya yankin' me around!" she objected angrily.

"Désolé," he told her as he found the bike to go with the key. "Get on," he ordered as he swung himself onto the bike and charged a set of cards, flinging them at the garage door and leaving a smoking hole. Rogue had barely gotten on behind him when he revved the engine, sending them off with the ring of bullets and curses behind them.

Rogue was begrudgingly forced to hang on to Gambit as they raced down the dusk roads at illegal speeds. The last thing she wanted to do was fall off; they hadn't had time to grab helmets in their mad dash to escape the Assassins.

"So why are tha Rippers after me?" She called over the wind.

"Not now chère; is dere a way to de mansion wit'out goin' t' de front? Where dey can't tell where y' goin'?" he asked.

"Yeah…you know tha main road headin' in ta Bayville?"

"Oui."

"Head for it and take tha lower road off it, tha one that looks like it's goin' in tha opposite direction. It'll double back towards tha bay, then there's a path that will take ya ta where tha beach meets tha cliff. There's an entrance ta a tunnel that runs under tha Institute there."

"Dey won't be able to trace dat? If it runs right under it?"

"It's a mile or two off and there's a good chunk of tha town over it. They can't tell where it would go ta, but if we lose them, they won't even know where we went. The entrance is hidden."

There was a wild screeching of tires behind them as an expensive car with tinted windows pulled in to view. Gambit looked over his shoulder and swore.

"Well, we'll work on losin' dem later, r'ight now we better be prayin' dat Julien left his bazooka back in de bayou! Hold on tight!" Gambit sped up and the car attempted to keep pace; there was a bang as a bullet clipped Rogue's shoulder. Gambit swerved and swore again. The adrenaline of the chase pumped through Rogue's veins; it was starting to soak her in a sweat that the sticky air wasn't helping. An idea struck her and she reached into Gambit's pocket.

"What _are _y' doin' chère?"

"Shut up swamp rat!" she said as she pulled a deck of cards out; "Hold on for a second, Ah'm goin' ta zap you!" Rogue pulled off a glove with her teeth. Brushing her fingers feather-light against Gambit's bare cheek, she felt the bike swerve again as she heard him gasp. There was a tumble of confusion in her head as she concentrated on Gambit's powers, using them to charge a handful of the cards before tossing them behind the bike.

Rogue heard the brakes on the Ripper's car squeal as they realized what was in the road—too late. Rogue listened with satisfaction to the sound of the cards exploding under their tires and Gambit laughed, breathless, stealing a glance back.

"Beautiful chère! Très beau!" He said as he laughed again.

They seemed to have shaken off the Rippers after that and the short drive back to Bayville was uneventful, but Gambit never slowed down, still taking the road to the tunnel. As they drove closer to the cliff, the hologram over the x-marked door flickered out, the door itself opening to let them through.

"They must see us comin' on tha surveillance cameras," Rogue told Gambit.

"Dey aren't goin' t' lynch me on sight are dey?"

"That'll probably depend on tha mood Wolverine is in."

"Je suis un cadavere…" he muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"No'thin' Chére."

The silence that stretched its way down the tunnel with them was more deafening than the magnified roar of the motorcycle. The tunnel started to feel like it would never end when a second x-marked door came into view.

The entrance split open to allow them into a lower part of the Blackbird hangar, driving into a loose half circle of tense X-Men ready for a fight; Jean was in the air already, just behind Scott in full fledged 'Cyclops-mode'. Bobby was iced up, just thrilled to be doing anything with the senior X-men, while Nightcrawler was to the left of the door, crouched, his tail lashing from side to side as he contemplated doing something unpleasant to the ex-acolyte that seemed to have taken an unhealthy interest in his schwester. And of course there was Wolverine, ready to rip off Gambit's head to make up for the last time he got away. Gambit cut off the engine but made no immediate move to get off; with a little bit of a shiver and a groan he leaned down on the handlebars.

It was then, as Rogue saw with horror, she realized she wasn't soaked in sweat.

It was blood.

Gambit's blood.

The bullet that had only grazed her shoulder had gone into his.

"Oh Gawd, Gambit!"

"'S alright chère — it's just a scratch—" he told her.

"What the heck is goin' on here?!" Wolverine snarled, exposed claws gleaming threateningly. Rogue got off the bike as Gambit did the same, a little stiffly. The bewildered X-Men closed ranks slightly.

"Rogue, get back!" Cyclops ordered as he prepared to fire.

"No! Guys—Logan it's alright—ah think…He's not goin' ta cause any trouble, he got me away from some Rippers that were around the mall—k"

"Rippers? Those thugs he got you tangled up with in New Orleans? What's the meaning of this, bub?" Wolverine growled at Gambit.

"Excuse moi—but it's a très long story an' I think I need a band-aid or somethin' fo' dis," he said gesturing to his bleeding shoulder.

"Yer not goin' anywhere until I get some answers!"

"Wolverine." He turned to face Professor Xavier entering in the doorway, "We can certainly spare a few moments to patch Gambit up before receiving our answers. Hank, if you would?"

"Um…of course," Beast cleared his throat. "This way please," he told Gambit as he led him to the med-bay, Professor Xavier following behind them. Wolverine went after the odd procession without invitation muttering to himself, then stopped and turned.

"Stripes, go shower off, change and meet us back in the med-bay," he ordered and left without another word.

Rogue followed him out, fleeing the hangar before her teammates could start to question her and mercifully, no one followed her into the Danger Room lockers. She had to trash her shirt because there was no way the bloodstains were coming out of the fabric. The blood had soaked through to her skin and the sticky feeling made her skin crawl, too much like the bayou scum she'd been covered with from her last encounter with Gambit.

And just like last time, Rogue took her time in the showers, letting the scalding water sear the clinging feeling off her skin, but the shower didn't even budge what was bothering her the most—the swamp rat _under_ her skin.

She hadn't seen him since the disastrous Mardi Gras in New Orleans that ended up with her tangled in Gambit's rescue attempt to save his father. He'd given her a queen of hearts card before she'd left—she still had it tucked away somewhere, it was good luck after all. And aside from attempting to blow her hand off and kidnapping her and having a cocky attitude, he wasn't that bad a guy. She wouldn't exactly call him a friend, but he was okay.

Rogue cleaned and bandaged the bullet graze with the locker room's medical supplies; it wasn't anything so serious that she couldn't manage it herself. The wound made her wonder just who the Rippers had been aiming for, her, or Gambit?

Dressed in the spare X-Men uniform out of her locker, Rogue entered the med-bay to find Logan on a self-assigned post just inside the door. He glanced at her for a second, before he caught her scent and turned his attention to her.

"You're hurt?" He stopped Rogue.

"Ah'm okay."

"Then why can I smell your blood?"

" 'cause Ah got scratched by tha bullet that got Gambit in tha shoulder. It was fine, Ah patched it up, see?" Rogue stretched her collar so he could see the dressing.

"Rogue," he grumbled.

"Ah'm _fine_. And Ah don't need ya touchin' mah skin either," she added with a step back after noticing the twitch in his fingers. Rogue turned to the room and was greeted by the sight of a shirtless Gambit laying face down on one of the medical tables, and when he heard her approach, he turned his head to give her a slightly drugged smile, even though Beast, in doctor regalia, was poking around in his shoulder with a pair of tweezers.

"Bonjour," he slurred slightly.

"Bonjour ya'self. You goin' ta live swamp rat?" she asked as she took a seat next to the Professor.

"O' course chère."

"Shoot." She jabbed playfully.

"Aw now chère, dat hurts worse den dat bullet did." Beast did something that made him wince and bite back a curse; "Or not," he amended.

"He was quite fortunate actually; the bullet was of a relatively speaking small caliber and avoided anything more serious than some extremely minor damage to the surrounding muscle. Very lucky indeed," Beast mused, "I'm merely insuring that there are no residual bullet fragments remaining in the surrounding tissue."

"How minor 's extremely minor? It'll heal just fine, wont it?" Gambit checked.

"You should suffer no long-term effects from it, though I expect your shoulder will be rather sore for a while," Beast assured him, "it is a mostly superficial injury for its kind, you will have full use of your arm in no time."

"Good. That's good…" Gambit mumbled into his pillow.

"Okay bub, Rogue's here and good ol' doctor Beast says you're not goin' to keel over anytime soon, so start talking. What's all this about those Rippers here in Bayville?" Wolverine was getting agitated.

"Non, not Bayville. Not yet at least…y' told dem everything that happened when I brought y' down to N'awlins before, right chère?" Gambit asked Rogue. Wolverine snickered.

"You mean when you _kidnapped _her and tricked her into helping you rescue your father? Oh we got the whole story—and I'm still plannin' on paying you back for that." Wolverine stared him down.

"…Those wouldn't be mon words precisely but—what did you tell them about the Ripper's exactly?" He addressed Rogue again.

"Just that they were a rival family of yours."

"Well, it'd be a bit more dan dat… de Rippers also go by another name when dey aren't bein' so subtle, dey also call demselves de Guild o' Assassins. Y' know my family is de T'ieves Guild."

"Good to know, what's that have to do with Rogue?" Wolverine growled.

"I'd get t' dat if y' would quit interuptin' me," Gambit said darkly before continuing. "Fo' as long as I've lived—non, fo' _hundreds_ and _hundreds _o' years, our two families have been at war—assassins kill t'ieves, t'ieves kill assassins—its been goin' on fo' so long no one even remembers _why _were fightin' anymore. Things are always…touchy at best, but—can y' even imagine what de tables looked like when the Assassins managed to kidnap de King o' T'ieves and hold him hostage?" Gambit asked.

"Ah thought you said that man was your father?"

"Oui. He is."

"Then what the heck does that make you? The _Prince _of Thieves?" Rogue scoffed. Gambit chuckled.

"Oui, it does."

"Right, whatever, back to the story _Prince Gambit_," Wolverine told him.

"Anyway…de point is, here are de Assassins, t'inkin' dey've got a winnin' advantage in dis war an' den here comes one little t'ief, who dey _especially _don't like I should add, and thanks to some fille dey've never seen before, dat advantage is gone in the matter of an hour. Mad don't even start t' describe it…dey're out fo' y' blood Rogue. Dey want payback."

"Well, it's taken them long enough to figure it out, hasn't it? Why are they coming after her just now?" Wolverine wanted to know.

"It's not 'just now', Wolvie." Wolverine growled slightly at the nickname, but Gambit continued, "Dey hadn't been able to _find _her. All they knew was I found her while I was up here workin', an' none o' us t'ieves were goin' t' tell dem anythin'; en fait, we been doin' all we can t' keep dem runnin' in circles.

"Why?" Rogue was confused now.

"Why?" Gambit was astonished; "Mon Dieu, chère, you save mon père's _life _and y' want t' know _why_? De T'ieves are in y' _debt_; we _owe _y'. And o' 'course it helps that mon père is enchanté wit' y' powers; he thinks y' would make a merveilleux t'ief t' have on our side too."

"Not interested."

"Told him as much." Gambit shrugged awkwardly and winced again.

"So you said they couldn't find me. What changed?"

"De X-Men bein' all over de news wit' all dat mess wit' Apocalypse. After dat it didn't take dem long t' figure out where t' start lookin'. Den it was all a matter o' show wit' de T'hieves declarin' y' were under our protection an' de Assassins declarin' y' an official enemy o' dere's an' us both declarin' de threat o' war if either one o' us so much as twitched the wrong way an' all dat other nonsense we waste our time wit'. Dey hadn't been able t' go after you openly wit'out risk o' startin' de war back up, not dat it really matters to dem. O' course, dey were just makin' it harder fo' demselves because Julien wanted to come after y' personally. But dey'd been lookin' fo' a way around everythin', an' we knew dat too…until we found out Julien an' a bunch o' his hommes gave us de slip two or three days ago, that is. I left as soon as I found out t' try t' head him off."

"Alright Cajun, message delivered. You can run back home to your father and tell him we've got things covered from here," Wolverine told him.

"Uh…well, monsieur Wolverine? It isn't goin' t' be quite dat simple," Gambit admitted.

"Why not?"

"Well fo' starters, it probably isn't safe fo' me t' go back yet. At least not until I contact mon family."

"Because?"

"Julien and I…have somewhat o' a history between us. I don't doubt dat he'll try to make it look like I attacked him fo' no reason—say I got in de way o' a mark or something to make it look like I broke treaty. I need t' know what 'm headin' back t' first. Or else I'll be dead the moment I step foot back in N'awlins."

"That ain't exactly our problem. Got anything else?"

"Oui, I do. Secondly…it's 'cause I've dragged Rogue into dis wit'out meanin' t' an' that's mon fault—and I owe it to her to make up fo' dat an' de little…slight o' hand I pulled on her."

"Meaning?"

"I made myself Rogue's guild-law official guardian t'ief, so to say." He grinned in a way that made Wolverine's sheathed claws twitch.

"Oh no! You not goin' to be anywhere near her bub! I—"

"Logan," Xavier spoke for the first time since Gambit started his story. "I believe Gambit's story thus far. I think the details of this rather…complicated arrangement can be worked through tomorrow—after all, it is getting rather late. In the mean time, Gambit, you are welcomed to stay in one of our guest rooms for the night."

"_WHAT_?" Rogue's and Wolverine's protests started at the same time.

"Charles, you've got to be kidding—"

"Professor, he's one of Magneto's _lackeys_—"

"Enough. It's his choice. Gambit?"

"…Merci, Professor Xavier. I would appreciate that…and it's Remy. Remy LeBeau, not Gambit."

"Alright Remy. Hank, when you are done here would you bring him to a room upstairs?"

"Certainly. I'm just finishing with the bandages," he said and the Professor gave a little nod.

"Goodnight to you all then. We'll talk more in the morning." Professor Xavier left and after a second and a growl in Gambit's direction, Wolverine followed. Rogue wasn't far behind him when Gambit called out to her.

"Chère?" Rogue turned; Gambit was sitting up now, staring at her.

"T'ought y' might like t' know I wasn't one o' bucket head's lackeys. It was…a rather awkward…contract."

"Like Ah care?" she told him. Gambit merely tilted his head, suddenly interested in his trench coat. He swore.

"De bâtard ruined mon favorite coat…" he muttered. Rogue left the room, catching the tail end of the Professor and Logan's conversation as Xavier got on the elevator.

"—Chuck, one of these days, that 'faith in the good of people' that you've got? It's goin' to come back and bite you."

"Well my friend, it certainly has worked out for the better this far, wouldn't you agree?"

Wolverine saw Rogue coming over his shoulder and didn't get to say anything else before the elevator doors closed.

"Hey Stripes?"

"Yeah?"

"If he puts one toe out of line around you," Wolverine jerked his head back towards the med-bay to indicate Gambit, "you just call me and I'll come chop up the Swamp Rat and make gumbo outta him, okay?" That got a small smile out of Rogue.

"Sure Logan."

-----xXx-----

A/N: I'll apologize in advance if anyone thinks I've butchered Gambit's speech; I live far enough south that I have a bit of a southern accent, so I know how Rogue should sound, as for Gambit though, I've never really heard anyone with a Cajun accent, so I'm going off of what I have heard, a little bit of research, and how he sounds in my head. All most all of my French comes from freetranslation . com, so I blame them if it's wrong!

Another note, I'm treating nothing from any X-Men comic as cannon unless it appeared in the show or is otherwise used in this fic. Why? Because I strongly insist the Evo is an AU, and I'm calling on my creative license to have a little fun here...and I practically know zilch about the comics anyway.

Feed the plot bunnies! Leave a review; constructive criticism and deserved flames both welcomed!


	2. Cross Examination

**Disclaimer: See chapter one.**

**Notes: An edited and slightly enhanced version of chapter one has been uploaded. While I suggest you read it if you have not, it won't change your understanding of the story. **

---xXx---

Chapter Two-Cross Examination

---xXx---

Sunlight persistently tugged at Rogue's eyelids until she was forced to open them. It was Sunday and she didn't care what time it was, it was too early to be awake.

She been having the strangest dream too, she thought as she sat up, something about shopping malls and Cajuns fighting over her neck—

"Oh my gosh you're finally up!" Kitty shrieked entirely too loud as she phased through their door and saw Rogue was awake. "I so wanted to talk to you when I got home. I mean Wanda said you like freaked out in the middle of the mall and then out of nowhere Mr. Logan called me and wanted to know where you were before he hung up all of a sudden and then no one answered when I called back and when I finally got home everyone was saying something about Gambit being in the sub-basement, but no one knew what was going on, and the only thing Logan would tell me was not to wake you up if you were asleep, but he was muttering something about 'damn Cajuns' and—"

"Kitty?" Rogue stopped her friend. "Breathe." She sucked in a breath.

"Rogue what happened?"

The southerner moaned before burying her head under her pillow. So her subconscious hadn't made up the whole thing in her sleep. Dang.

"Can't you wait until breakfast Kit? Or at _least_ until Ah get some coffee? 'Cause everybody else is going ta be asking me tha same thing."

"Ohhh…okay fine. Just go ahead and get up okay?" Kitty pleaded before running back through the door, most likely to inform the wolves that Rogue was awake.

Head still buried under the pillow, Rogue contemplated barricading the door and just staying there all day. But with a roommate that could walk through walls and a brother that could teleport, that idea probably wouldn't work too well. Rogue didn't _want_ to get up and figure out how she got into some crazy mess with Gambit, what she wanted was to find out that the whole thing had been some sort of twisted April Fool's prank that just happened to be five months late. Yeah, right. Wishful thinking.

Deciding she may as well get on with it, Rogue put her X-man training to good use in order to dodge any sentient life forms on the way to and from the shower, dressing herself in the first set of her own clothes that she laid hands on.

Despite all logic, she was the last one down to breakfast when she reached the dining room. Or almost last—the Professor and Gambit weren't there, nor the other instructors.

When she walked in, all of the students stopped whatever they were doing and glanced at her, but when they met her eyes they all started up talking too loud or cramming food into their mouths too fast.

Warily, Rogue settled into her usual seat. Kurt greeted her absently in German and asked her how she was before he began talking to Bobby about some sports game on TV, which Rogue found odd. She shrugged it off and fixed a cup of the godsend known as coffee, then took a plate and served herself eggs, sausage, toast and—

Rogue's hand stopped, hovering over the spoon in a green bowl sitting innocently in front of her, off to the side as nonchalant as a bowl could be.

They were grits. _Cheese_ grits at that. What the devil were those doing on the breakfast table? They were here favorite, but Rogue was just about the only one who would eat grits period other than Sam, and generally the only one to cook them; after Rogue had given up on getting anyone to eat them, she gave up the hassle and rarely bothered to make them in the morning.

Rogue took the spoon and, with caution, ladled some onto her plate. When Rogue took her own spoon and tasted them, all conversation in the room dropped off.

Dang. She thought. They weren't instant grits garbage but the good stuff, not too thick or too thin, and the type of creamy that you could really only get right after stirring nearly constantly for an hour while adding milk. They had used real cheddar too, throwing in some pepper just the way she liked.

Along with some frigging truth serum most likely, she thought. The kids were trying to _bribe_ information out of her.

Putting down the spoon, she shoved away the plate, arms crossed and giving a death glare at all the faces looking up at her. She tried to pick out the mastermind behind this little scheme. All their faces looked unashamedly guilty; so they all were in on it. Rogue growled and rolled her eyes.

"Well?" She asked.

They all started talking at once;

"Is Gambit staying?"

"Did you know he was here?"

"Did you meet up on purpose?

"Are you two secretly going out?!?"

"SPILL!"

"Did you two really get _shot_?"

"Is there actually a hit out on you?"

It all came out as a largely unintelligible babble, half of the questions drowned out by the rest. Rogue groaned, putting her head down on the table just a little too hard. Over the chaos around her, a chuckle was heard in the doorway.

"When y' warned me dat breakfast here was exciting Professor, I didn' know y' meant dere was goin' t' be some sort o' riot."

The focus of everyone in the room was suddenly off Rogue and all eyes were on the door. In the doorway was Professor Xavier; beside him was standing Gambit, minus his trench coat and wearing a shirt that Rogue was pretty sure belonged to Scott. Making use of the sudden hush, the Professor addressed the room.

"Good morning everyone, I trust by now most of you have heard we have a house guest." He indicated Gambit, who gave an overly dramatic bow that would have looked ridiculous if anyone else had done it.

"Remy LeBeau, at de service o' de X-Men." He smiled at the blank faces around the table. Then it started again.

"WHAT?"

"I knew it!"

"This is awkward"

"No, this is weird."

"Sooo…how long is this for?"

"Cool!"

"So they _are_ going out!?!"

"This is bad…"

"We're all going to die in our sleep…"

"But isn't he an Acolyte?"

That last one made him rub his temples and mutter, "No one's ever going t' let me forget dat…"

Rogue rolled her eyes. While the mob's attention was on Gambit, she asked Xavier, "Where's everyone else Professor?"

"I believe Hank and Logan are conducting upgrades to the Danger Room; Scott and Jean are at a press conference being held by the Bayville city council," the Professor gave a cursory glance at Bobby and Kurt, "and I was under the impression that Ororo was hosting a tutoring session for a biology test at the school tomorrow?" The effect was instantaneous, Bobby choked on his orange juice and Kurt knocked over his chair as he tried to stand.

"Nein! I forgot!" Kurt moaned before he grabbed a piece of toast and teleported.

"Aw man, Kurt! Come back!" Bobby pleaded with the empty, sulfur-scented air as he ran out the door. Xavier chuckled slightly before he took his place at the head of the table.

Rogue suddenly became aware of someone sitting in Kurt's vacated seat. The semi-silent table watched as Rogue turned her head.

"Bon matin, ma chère," Remy smiled. Rogue raised an eyebrow.

"Ah ain't your nothin' Cajun. Who told ya that you could sit there?"

"Hmm, no one; de Professor said everyone just sit wherever dey want. I like de view from here." His stare—his eyes, almost made her squirm in her seat, his words made her roll her eyes.

"Whatever." Rogue ignored him and turned her attention back to her breakfast. He shrugged casually as if it didn't matter and if Rogue hadn't known he was just trying to get under her skin, she would have almost felt insulted. She watched him out of the corner of her eyes as he became absorbed with fixing a cup of coffee. Despite the generous amount of cream and sugar, he made a tiny face after he took a sip.

"What's tha matter? Too much coffee in ya cream and sugar?" Rogue asked dryly. Gambit chuckled.

"Non, I just never appreciate de coffee at home until 'm up north or somet'in'. Coffee's fine."

"No it isn't. Ah can tell Scott fixed it; he never uses enough coffee unless he's sleep deprived." Rogue scooted around the food on her plate before she took a bite of egg.

Gambit smiled slightly as he took another drink. The chatter levels around the dining table were beginning to return to normal, perhaps with a bit more than the normal amount of whispering. A low growl entered through the doorway, announcing the entrance of Wolverine.

"Ah Logan; How did the Danger Room upgrades go?" the Professor queried. Logan shrugged as he dropped into his seat.

"The programmin' works fine but one of the lasers keeps misfirin' at the wrong time—nearly fried me twice when I tried to run one of the courses. Hank thinks he can fix it, somethin' about reversin' the beta command on the laser discharge protocol thingy or somethin'…he was starting to stop makin' sense. Should be done by noon though…oh that reminds me; senior X-Men have a training exercise after breakfast," he called out. "I want to make sure we got rid of all of the bugs."

There was a collective groan around the table and suddenly everyone was eating at half speed. Rogue took another swig of coffee as Gambit whispered, "Now what's a 'Danger Room'?"

"Ya kiddin' right?" Rogue asked incredulously.

"Non. Never heard o' it."

"Huh…would of figured ya knew from workin' with Magneto." A sneaky thought crossed her mind as she called out, "Hey Logan?" Logan turned his head and did a double take as he realized who was sitting next to Rogue.

"Yeah Stripes?"

"Gambit wants to know what the Danger Room is." Rogue's small mischievous smile was returned by one of the Wolverine's sinister and sadistic ones.

"Really? Well Gumbo can tag along; best way for him to understand is to experience it himself."

"Uh, now dat's okay, but I t'ink I'd be fine wit'out dat." Gambit did _not_ like the looks he was getting.

"I wasn't asking," Wolverine stated before returning to his food.

" 'm gonna die aren't I, chère?" He looked at Rogue.

"Haven't I told you not to call me that?" She glared, disregarding his question.

"Hmmm…I don' t'ink so…" He rubbed his chin as though he were deep in thought.

"Well I'm telling ya now; my name is _Rogue_, so stop callin' me that _swamp rat_."

"And my name is Remy, _chère_." He grinned slyly. Rogue glared, then turned back to Logan.

"Er ist tot Logan. Verstehen?" She deadpanned.

"Abgemacht, Streifen." He answered with a chuckle. Rogue rolled her eyes.

"Ah don't mean that literally."

"Sure." Logan was still grinning.

"What was dat? What did y' say t' him?" Gambit asked, trying to appear calm.

"Nothin', sugah." Rogue didn't look at him, just continued with her breakfast, still smiling. Gambit turned and mouthed, "sugar?" to one of the students. He received a shrug from Berserker and a kid whose name he didn't know drew their finger across their throat and then pointed to him. He picked the conversation with Rogue back up.

"Really, I got a _très bon _motorcycle I should go try t' find, assumin' Julien or his petits amis didn' do anythin' t' it."

"And you'd leave me here all alone to fend for mahself with all of those Rippers chasin' after me?" Rouge asked in mock shock, a startled look on her face.

"Don't joke, chère, dat isn't funny." He glowered a little at her. Rouge rolled her eyes.

"So did ya find out what they're doing now? Do they know we're in Bayville?"

"I don' know fo' sure; de Guild doesn't know anythin' yet."

"So are ya staying here?"

"Ouais…f' now, s' long as I don' die in dat room o' yours."

Rogue ignored him except for a small smile that made Gambit groan.

**---xXx---**

After the procrastinating X-Men had been sent scurrying to the Danger Room under threat of an extended session, Gambit had disappeared in the time it took them to change into uniform and start stretching before Wolverine got there. It had started to seem that he wasn't going to show, since Scott and Jean had already come back from the town meeting, when he finally waltzed in like he owned the place.

"You're late," Scott felt the need to announce to him. Gambit shrugged.

"Y' haven't started yet, what's de rush?"

"Wolverine said eleven thirty sharp. It's almost twelve; what were you doing?"

"Well, Wolverine isn't here an' I don' t'ink anything I do is y' concern, non?" Gambit said to him with a fixed stare. Scott just turned his back on him and went back through his warm up routine. With a smirk he slid over to where Rogue was half stretching, half spotting for Kurt swinging around on a high bar that the room had materialized for him.

"So what were ya doin'?" Rogue asked while she watched Kurt perform a somersault, catching himself with his tail.

"Takin' a nap," Gambit admitted, emphasizing the statement with a yawn.

"You were sleeping?" she said, disbelieving.

"Mmhm," he muttered drowsily. "If I were home den I should just now be _maybe_ rollin' out o' bed an' headin' downstairs fo' some o' Tante's homemade beignets," he yawned again; "not be runnin' around…whatever dis t'ing is."

"Danger Room," Rogue reminded him.

"Right. So what does dis big empty room do anyway?"

"Just about anythin'."

"Like—?" Gambit persisted.

"Everythin'. Anythin' ya can think of and even some stuff ya can't. And you're gonna be sore if ya don't stretch Cajun," she added.

"Hein?" Gambit turned around and bent over backwards on his hands to look at her, bent in a way that should have been painful, if not impossible, "what's dat chère?" He grinned.

"Show off," Rogue muttered and he rolled himself onto his hands into a handstand scissor kick and landed back on his feet.

"O' course," he said, rolling his shoulders with a slight wince.

"Ya alright?"

"Yeah, just won't be doin' dat again; m' shoulder's sore."

"Maybe Logan shouldn't have ya in here with a bad arm…" Rogue added with a faint twinge of concern.

"Worried about me, ma chère?"

"You wish," Rogue smirked.

"Wouldn't be much o' a fighter if I couldn't work around un little shoulder injury, now would I?"

"Okay people!" Wolverine's voice boomed as he walked into the Danger Room, "Hank ain't entirely sure he got all the bugs out so we're just gonna be runnin' a basic evasive maneuvers course for now."

"Well, dat don' sound so bad," Gambit whispered to Rogue.

"Ha, Logan's idea of basic usually ends with someone in the med-lab," Rogue whispered back; Wolverine grinned like he had heard her though. Gambit was just concerned that he was grinning at _him_.

" 'm goin' t' have t' make sure dat ain't me den."

"Everyone ready?" Wolverine checked; "Alright, Danger Room, engage program!"

**---xXx---**

Julien Boudreaux was enraged beyond words and fully coherent thought. He had that skunk-haired mutant _freak_ right there! She was right in front of him, but because of that _damned thief_ she got away! Julian let out a shout of rage as he kicked the desk in his hotel room.

This was _not_ suppose to be hard, just an easy, fast kill. Why was getting to her such a problem?! Julien's cell phone hummed softly in his pocket. He pulled it out and without looking at the number he snapped, "_WHAT_?!" His manner changed completely when the voice on the other end spoke.

"I take it dat t'ings have not gone as y' planned?"

"Father—" Julien began and was immediately cut off.

"Y' absence has already been noticed and de T'ieves have been alerted t' y' actions!" Marius Boudreaux shouted at his son. "I expect y' an' dose wit' y' t' cover your tracks an' come home at once!"

"But Father—!"

"No buts!" he snapped, "Do y' have any _idea_ what a mess dis _amateur_ blunder has made?! We are going t' continue wit' de plan dat was in place _before_ dis disaster. Do y' understand?"

"Yes Father."

"I hope at the very _least_ y' managed t' confirm de location?"

"Yes, it's just as we t'ought."

"Good. If we can't single out dat Rogue by herself, den we can just take down her whole _family_ with her."

**---xXx---**

**Not obvious Translations**:

**German**-

Er ist tot Logan. Verstehen? –He is dead Logan. Understand?

Abgemacht, Streifen. –Arranged, Stripes.

**French**-

Ouais- Yeah

---xXx---

Author's Note's: First and foremost, a big thank you to Wanda W for beta-ing this story. Secondly, a big I'm sorry to you readers that this chapter took so long to write! Life went and reared its ugly little head and my muse ran away to New Orleans and I couldn't get her to come back. On the good side, I have a lot of later chapters laid out and most of chapter three (and maybe chapter four) are half written.

By the way, since Rogue is the main character here, as a general rule I'll only include a translation if she knows what is being said and if it isn't too obvious, like you should be able to tell "bon matin" is "good morning" and "très bon" is "very good". I'll change that if there is a reader preference for every word being translated.

And by the way, if you reviewed, you should have gotten a message when I edited chapter one (the first time). That's a plus to reviewing; I may send you notes and special updates. I'll try to extend that to watchers, but when I'm in a hurry (as I often am) the reviewers are more likely to get mail.

So a big thank you to you reviewers and lurkers!

**TENaSeein'**: Thank you and I can't wait to see what direction I go with this too!

**melificent78**: Thank you!

**Eratta**: I'm glad you like it and I am doubly glad you pointed that out! I'm surprised I wasn't hunted down and stoned! Now that I have a beta, I hopefully won't make such an embarrassing blunder again.

**Anna Marcia Gregorio**: Half my motivation was that I'd never seen something like this. Oh, and Remy certainly had the benefits in mind when he volunteered to go.

**Maya-chan2007**: Thank you, I try to be creative occasionally. And that makes perfect sense and it makes me feel better that therefore this must fit pretty well with the show. And I will from time to time borrow ideas from other sources and Belladona will likely be a monkey wrench thrown into the works at some point. Also, the scene you mentioned was extended slightly.

**ytisr2**: Thank you, and if things go my way there will be plenty more of this story!

**thecoldest raindrops are tears**: Thank you and here you are!

**Streak13**: thank you, I did go back and thicken it up a bit, if for no more reason than to be consistent with other spellings out there. It's easier because that's how I hear it too.

**TsubasaLover21**: ;) Yes, we both know how evil college can be at times.

**klutzyspaz**: Well, lacking on the soon part, but you can certainly have more story.

Reviews inspire the muse's soul, so why not leave one?


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